I believe I have it. Please feel free to offer constructive criticism as I’m looking to improve my modeling and how I present them.

First one in at least 30 years, although I have a couple of tanks under my belt from the past couple of years.

Bogger44 did not want to cut down the molded-in knob aft of the water bottle because he did not want to create a headache on a quick build. I had no such compunction, but I did succeed in making an unholy mess, as you can see by the backing I put on the holes.

After some putty, sanding, Tamiya surface primer, sanding, it looks a bit like something Frankenstein would put together, but not so horrible(?):

At any rate, I'm happy with the chassis progress:

Thanks for looking.

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Its only plastic until you add imagination! Michael

Looking good! I'm humbled that you've used mine as a guide/inspiration, thanks! I couldn't have done it without the help of Fury3 though. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Nice work on removing that fin behind the bottle on the inner fender, you're gutsier than I am. LOL! I see you also removed the exhaust from the rear axle, nice. It sure makes for a better look doesn't it? What color is that you're going with?

Thanks all for checking in – even CG63 (my poor Patriots!). And thanks bogger44 – it’d be great to have you along on this build.

I am intimidated by Fury3’s encyclopedic knowledge, but more often than once I’ve thought of throwing out a line on a random question. Problem is, “paralysis by analysis” is very real with me (one question I had involved the gas tank straps – you can see where I might go with this). I have limited bench time as it is. While I’d like to make this super-accurate, I’ve also go to start (and finish) somewhere.

Removal of the rear fin in the engine compartment wasn’t guts – it was ignorance! What I’m left with is a difficult area to make presentable, and some gnarly patch panels in the wheel well. However, I think with some coolant lines in the engine compartment and the wheels and tires blocking the view, I should come up with a decent 20-footer. And if I didn’t separate the exhaust from the real axle it would have bugged me. I did manage to snap at least one exhaust pipe and one axle in the process (used a #11 fine-tooth saw blade), but remedied the situation with putty & patience.

The color is Scalefinishes Dodge B5 Bright Blue. I dropped some Scalefinishes White Sealer under two coats of the blue on the wheels:

There was a line inside the wheel that acted as a spacer between the inner & outer rims. I thought it made the wheels stand too proud of the tire, so I shaved it.

I just got a Parts by Parks distributor for the kit engine and wiring will be a first for me. Any good references on installing the wires & boots around the exhaust headers on a 440? It also doesn’t look like I have enough room to put the boots on the wires at the distributor. Am I right or am I lame?

Thanks again.

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I am no expert on engine wiring but I try. On the 440, I put the exhaust manifolds on the engine and then just driiled two holes between the first exhaust port and the center exhaust port and then two more aft of the center. I didn't bother with boots as you won't see them anyway. I normally use pre-wired distributors. Morgan Automotive has a nicely detailed distributor but I can never get the wire through a wire loom. Preston Car Parts also has pre-wired distributors but the distributor is basically nine wires stuffed in a hole but probably the wire will fit through a wire loom.

The one 440 that I wired myself I added boots on the distributor by cutting brake line wire into small pieces, gluing them to the tits on the distributor and then gluing the spark plug wire into the top of the brake line. After all was said and done I don't know that it was worth it but it kept me from drilling 9 tiny holes and braking the tits off the distributor. Here's a pic. The boot on the coil is the easiest to see.

Thanks for that JR. I’ve just wired my first motor! The good news is that it can only get better. I’ll have to look into Morgan Automotive & Preston Car Parts distributors. The Parts by Parks looks like it should go into a race car.

Those black lines are supposed to be 3/4" coolant hoses that go to the heater box, but they're looking a little narrow.

I also did the magnetized assembly board trick for the wheels:

But I still ended up with some wheel hop:

I was going to heat up the chassis with a hairdryer and try to torque it back into place. Anyone have any better ideas?

Thanks.

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For your first time wiring a motor, it looks pretty good. You even wired the right rear plug correctly. I'm not sure what advise to give you about trying to straighten out the chassis. A hair dryer might work, but just be really careful not to let plastic get too hot. Some guys run hot water (not boiling) over the part and attempt to lightly twist it back into place. On another note, about those kit supplied steel rims, they are incorrect for a factory Road Runner. They were available only on heavy duty vehicles (police, fire, etc.) I just wanted to give you a heads-up on them. Nothing wrong in using them, though, as it's only a model. Keep those pics coming!